Abstract
Background: Hepatitis is a systemic infection with major pathology in the liver mainly due to hepatitis B virus (HBV). It can cause acute and chronic infections while some patients never get rid of the virus and develop cirrhosis of the liver or liver cancer many years later. Objective: To assess the knowledge regarding HBV infection, mode of transmission and prevention among paramedics and non-paramedics of an intermediate level Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted in the district of Kanchanpur, Nepal during the period March- April 2015. A non-probability and purposive sampling technique was used to recruit 184 trainees in paramedical (pharmacy, general medicine and nursing) and non-paramedical (computer engineering and civil engineering) fields. Data were collected through interviews using a structured and semi-structured questionnaire. Results: Among the 184 respondents, there were 92 each from the paramedical and non-paramedical fields. Mean age of the paramedics was 18.6 (SD=1.54) years and 19.5 (SD=1.17) years among the non-paramedics. The majority of paramedics (64.1%) consisted of females, in contrast to the majority being males among non-paramedics (79.3%). More than 80% of paramedics (98.9%) and non-paramedics (84.3%) knew hepatitis is a communicable disease and is transmitted by unsafe sexual contact, unsafe blood transfusion, tattooing and drug abuses. However, the level of knowledge in paramedics was higher than in non-paramedics. Conclusion: There is potential need to raise awareness and knowledge of HBV among the non-paramedics through vertical programs as well as through social media in the country.
Highlights
Hepatitis B virus (HBV) is a potentially life threatening liver infection and a major public health problem with more than 350 million hepatitis B virus (HBV) carriers in the world [1]
Everyone should be familiarized with universal precautions at work, as defined by the Centre for Disease Control to prevent the transmission of HBV, hepatitis C virus, human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and blood-borne infections [12]
Of the 184 interviewed, 92 each were from paramedics and non-paramedics
Summary
Hepatitis B virus (HBV) is a potentially life threatening liver infection and a major public health problem with more than 350 million HBV carriers in the world [1]. It is estimated that 15-25% of patients with chronic HBV develop serious hepatic complications including liver cirrhosis, hepatic failure and liver cancer [2]. Laboratory and healthcare workers generally face many occupational hazards, including the constant danger of acquiring HBV most commonly transmitted as blood-borne infection from infected patients [7,8]. Hepatitis is a systemic infection with major pathology in the liver mainly due to hepatitis B virus (HBV). It can cause acute and chronic infections while some patients never get rid of the virus and develop cirrhosis of the liver or liver cancer many years later
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